How do discrimination, poverty, and injustice in society contribute to the misery and strengths of Indigenous people in Campbell’s Halfbreed?
Campbell’s Halfbreed is an autobiographical novel about survival and the power of the human spirit in regard to the existing inequality and social discrimination. The role of Métis women is usually disregarded, depriving them of various possibilities to build their lives as per their needs and wants. When a person losses family and identity, it is hard not to be broken into pieces. Still, the human spirit has the quality of restoration, which promotes character development and growth. This story is about “the joys and sorrows, the oppressive poverty, the frustrations and the dreams” (Campbell 7). In the beginning, there was “a miserable life of poverty which held no hope for the future” (Campbell 10). Relying on her experience, the author is able to “set aside their differences and come together as one” (Campbell 107). Such a serious change is thoroughly described in the novel, where half-breeds have to recognize and deal with their misery because of discrimination, poverty, and injustice. I want to know how to resist unfair treatment under the conditions when everything seems to fall apart. I will analyze the book focusing on poverty in society, discrimination against non-status Natives, and injustice towards women. I will discuss how the narrator of the story accepts her misery as a half-breed woman and turn it into a strength that allows changing his life and find the meaning in existence.
Work Cited
Campbell, Maria. Halfbreed. University of Nebraska Press, 1973.